Duke Cariadoc of the Bow has issued his annual invitation to Pennsic attendees to camp at or visit the Enchanted Ground.

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The grave of a medieval warrior has been unearthed under a Scottish car park.   The site was originally that of a 13th-century monastery.

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The Shire of Hartshorn-dale (Blue Bell, PA) invites one and all to A Day in the Solar: Saturday, June 8, 2013 1:00 P.M. to 8:00 P.M.

Come and enjoy a day in the solar. Work on some embroidery or your hand sewing of garb. An area will also be set up for those doing more modern garb work (sewing machines). We will also have an area set up for those who wish to practice a more period experience; an “enchanted ground” if you will, where no modern equipment (other than what the site has for us in electric lights, etc.) will be in evidence. Another area will be available for guild meetings. Contact the event coordinator (email at the end of this article) to schedule time for your group.

All those folks doing hand work and socializing will need some entertainment, and we hope that musicians, bards, story tellers and entertainers will join us to amuse and be amused. Food is being provided (John Marshall atte Forde is our head cook) but attendees are welcome, nay invited, to bring things they want to share. Desserts will particularly be welcome. There is no site fee, but donations will be gladly accepted to help defray costs (should donations exceed costs, they will be donated to the church that so graciously allows us to use their facilities).

All attendees will be asked to sign in and either show proof of membership or sign the waiver. Since there is no fee, pre-registration is not necessary, but if you know you’re planning to come, a note to the coordinator (email address below) will be appreciated for planning purposes.

Questions about food are encouraged to be directed to the coordinator before the day of the event.

The event is at St. John’s Lutheran Church, 1802 Skippack Pk., Blue Bell, PA 19422 near the intersection of Rt 202 and 73, slightly north of Norristown. See the event announcement on the East Kingdom website for detailed directions.

The coordinator for this event is Elizabet Marshall who can be contacted at kandyflingATgmailDOTcom.

Filed under: Events Tagged: a&s, Bardic, events, Hartshorn-dale

What is believed to be a large wine press, dating to the 6th or 7th century, has been discovered beneath the streets of Tel Aviv-Yafo municipality in Israel during modernization of the city's infrastructure. The installation was the first important Byzantine structure in the city. (photo)

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An enameled bronze Roman cockeral has been restored after being found in a child's grave.

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Davius presents his winnings from the tournament to Queen Thyra outside the East Kingdom Cabin

At the Trimaris Rapier Tournament this morning, Davius Saint Jacques, Queen Thyra’s Rapier Champion was given an award for being most courteous. John Drake of Ansteorra was awarded most effective period fighting style.  Don Donovan of the East Kingdom placed fourth in the tournament, Fergus of the Middle Kingdom placed third, Don Quintin Brilliant also of the East placed 2nd and John Drake won the tournament.  The tournament used the bear pit format.
Report and photo from Countess Marguerite

Filed under: Fencing

In the forty-seventh year of the Society, upon 9 March, in the Barony of the Bridge, Edward the King and Thyra the Queen did enact and cause to be enacted the following:

Item. Their Majesties summoned the children of the East Kingdom before the Tyger Thrones and shared with them toys donated by la Chambre des Dames d’Alisay and and many others.

Item. Their Majesties welcomed those new to the Society and gifted each with tokens of the day. 

Item.  Their Majesties called before the Court Lillie von der Tann and thereupon awarded her Arms, the which deed was memorialized in a document created by Eowyn Eilonwy of Alewife Brook.

Item.  Their Majesties summoned into their presence Pandaulf of Fenmere and, in praise of his work with thrown weapons, thereupon inducted him into the Order of the Golden Mantle, the which deed was memorialized with the gift of a wooden axe carved with runic text by Xandra Rozina Xiberras Galea.

Item.  Her Majesty caused Olafr inn orvi Haraldsson to be recognized with the Queen’s Order of Courtesy, the which deed was memorialized in a document created by Sunniva Ormstung.

Item.  Her Majesty invested Simona bat Leone with the token of the Queen’s Honor of Distinction.

Item.  Their Majesties summoned into the Court their servant Peronelle de Croy and thereupon awarded her Arms, the which deed was memorialized in a document created by Magdalena von Kirschberg.

Item.  Their Majesties called into their presence Maurin Lessault, whereupon Her Majesty invested the said Maurin with the Queen’s Order of Courtesy; and their Majesties did further praise the exemplary skills of the said Maurin in the field of dance, whereupon their Majesties summoned the Order of the Maunche and inducted the said Maurin into the Order aforenamed, the which deed was memorialized in a document authored by Asenath Chamberly of Morrismount, illuminated by Eleanore MacCarthaigh and calligraphed by Kenric of Essex.  Mistress Asenath then presented the said Maurin with the gift of an embroidered sleeve, with work done by Vibeke Steensdottir, Kristen de Kennett, Caelia Blackwolf, Briana Douglase and Ibhlin an Fraisch.

Item.  Their Majesties summoned Arylyn faerth Bronwyn before the Tyger Thrones and thereupon awarded the said Arylyn Arms, the which deed was memorialized in a document authored by Ulrich Reinhart and callirgraphed and illuminated by Sorcha Dhocair inghean Ruairc.

Item.  Their Majesties called into their presence Hermankyn of Quintavia (formerly known as Hermankin of Carolingia) and, praising his passion for and skills in the art of dance, inducted him into the Order of the Terpsichore, the which deed was memorialized in a document created by Fiona O’Maille ó Chaun Coille.

Item.  Master Yosef Alaric of the Baliset approached the Court, and begged the boon in ancient form that Eowyn Eilonwy of Alewife Brook might be admitted to the Peerage for her noble and long-standing works on behalf of the Kingdom.  Their Majesties took the testimony of representatives of the Peerages and concluded that the boon sought by Master Yosef was right and just, and thereupon inducted the said Eowyn into the Order of the Pelican with Arms by Letters Patent, the which deed was memorialized in a document authored by Alisoun MacCoul of Elphane, illuminated by Caryl de Trecessan and calligraphed by Eleanor Catlyng.

Item.  His Majesty announced his will and desire to select a Dance Champion in stand in stead of the King when necessary.  He called forth the aforenamed Maurin Lessault and presented him with a token, and bade the said Maurin to watch for other dancers of quality, then pass the token on to a deserving dancer for the next dance, and bade that all dancers so honored to do likewise afterwards.  Whereupon a great festival of dancing was held and all dancers obeyed the lawful command of their King, at the end of which it was recognzied that Philip White was the most excellent and deserving dancer of the day and worthy to be named to stand in the King’s stead; His Majesty did then further tender to the said Philip the token of the King’s Esteem of Merit.

All these things were done and lawfully enacted by Their Majesties’ hands in the presence of witnesses, upon the Feast of the Forty Martyrs.  Mistress Alys Mackyntoich, Their Majesties’ Herald, wrote this, upon the good report of Master Justin du Coeur.

Witnesseth:

Mistress Xandra Rozina Xiberras Galea

Lady Caitriona of Greenwood Isle

Lord Gundormr Dengir

 

Filed under: Court

Jorge Mario Bergoglio has become the latest man to follow in the footsteps of Saint Peter and become the Bishop of Rome and Pope of the Catholic Church. The Argentinian Cardinal has chosen his papal name to be Pope Francis, inspired by Saint Francis of Assisi, the 13th century Italian who founded the Franciscans.



In an article from the Washington Post, some of the reasons why Cardinal Bergoglio took the name Francis are discussed. Chad Pecknold, assistant professor of theology at the Catholic University of America, commented “I think he’s going to be the people’s pope. We often associate Saint Francis with incredible love for humanity.”

You can learn more about the founder of the Franciscan Order from there two articles:

Love and Saint Francis of Assisi: A Performer in the Middle Ages

The Friar and the Sultan: Francis of Assisi’s Mission to Egypt

It was hard to find a video detailing the life of St Francis of Assisi, but I did come across this - A Day in the Life of St Francis - which has its own unique take on the man...



I also wanted to point out this excellent article How History Can Help Us Predict the Next Pope, by David Perry, a history professor at Dominican University in Illinois.

Perry notes that:

Voting is a quintessentially medieval activity. Sure, popular representations of the Middle Ages focus on kings and knights, princesses and peasants, but medieval people, especially in cities, loved to vote. They organized themselves into groups - guilds, religious fraternities, charitable organization, drinking societies - and wrote complicated bylaws governing elections. Many cities embraced various kinds of representative government during the High Middle Ages. Even the army outside the walls of Constantinople in 1204 took time to develop a voting system to elect the next emperor.

Scroll by Lady Cezillia.

photo by Countess Margureite

On this day at a conjoined Court with the King and Queen of Ansteorra, King Edward and Queen Thyra did award Kate the Wicked of Lochleven arms. Scroll by Lady Cezillia. Reported by Countess Margureite.

Filed under: Court, Tidings Tagged: court report, Edward and Thyra, Gulf Wars

photo by Countess Marguerite

At Gulf Wars, the East Kingdom fought alongside Ansteorra in the rapier field battle. Ansteorra and their allies won two of three battles to take the field.

Baron Ravanoz Yannos of Three Rivers in the Kingdom of Calontir fought with the East, as did Don Conner of Ansteorra and his cadet Quinn. Don Conner is an Eastern transplant and a member of the Order of the Golden Rapier. Another former Easterner, Lord Swannoc of Ansteorra, fought with the East as did Don Edmond the Lame of An Tir. An additional eleven rapier fighters from the East finished out the group.

Filed under: Uncategorized

It was not a blow in combat that felled legendary Renaissance warrior Giovanni de’ Medici, but gangrene resulting from being hit by a cannon ball, in a battle in Lombardy on Nov. 25, 1526, according to a new study conducted after the exhumation of de’ Medici's body.

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There will be a silent auction to benefit Their Majesties at Mudthaw on March 23rd. Please note that proceeds from this auction will go directly to Their Majesties, and not to any official SCA fund.
The silent auction schedule us as follows:
10am-12pm – item drop off and setup
12pm-3pm – the auction
3pm-4pm – payment, item pickup, and take down.

All donations are appreciated, and donors are asked to include the following information with the items:
* A brief description of the item
* The suggested starting bid (default will be $1)
* Suggested bid increase (default will be $1)
* The estimated value of the item
* Donor name and contact information
* What to do with the item if it is unsold

Please contact me (Naomi bat Avraham) if you have any questions.
Filed under: Events, Official Notices, Tidings Tagged: Edward and Thyra, events, Fundraising, Settmour Swamp

A recent Wikipedia feature showcases Little Moreton Hall in Cheshire, England, a 16th century house which is, according to the national Trust,  "lifted straight from a fairy story, a gingerbread house."

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Robin Kyrke has posted a video of a performance by Armonn Bonaventa performing the Arrogant Worms song, "The Last Saskatchewan Pirate."

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The autocrats of the East Kingdom’s Spring Crown Tourney this year, having a site that allows plenty of space for fighters, have added a fighting activity that should appeal to all the chivalrous fighters in the East: a Rose Tournament

What is a Rose Tournament? It’s a tournament where fighters pair up as they choose, and the winner gets to tell the loser to go give a rose from the queen to the lady or lord of the winner’s choice. This is not only a chivalrous way to tell someone you think they are special, but it’s a great way to add an extra fighting experience for those who do not want to compete in Crown, or are eliminated in early rounds. Plus, you get to meet and speak to our gracious queen, currently our Princess Kiena.

The rapier community can also take part in this with their own Rose Tourney. So, even if you are not fighting in Crown, come to the event. You will have a wonderful extra tournament to participate in!

Questions about the Rose Tourney can be directed to Lady Lilie

Filed under: Court, Events, Tidings Tagged: Crown Tournament, events, Gregor and Kiena, weekend

Students at the University of Arizona are passionate about the SCA and are eager to share that passion, writes Renee Valencia of the Arizona Daily Wildcat after visiting members of the College of St. Felix on campus.

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With a new Pope about to be chosen, it might be a good time to look at some of his predecessors, and hope that the next heir to St. Peter will not be like any of these pontiffs from the Middle Ages...

Pope Stephen VI
(896-897)

Also called Stephen VII, this Pope's short reign is mostly known for having put on trial the previous Pope...who was dead. Stephen ordered the body of Pope Formosus exhumed, dressed in the Papal vestments, and set upon a throne. In what is known as the Cadaver Synod, Stephen charged the rotting corpse with perjury, coveting the Papacy, and breaking other church laws. During the trial, Pope Stephen screamed at Formosus, as well as mocked and insulted him.


Formosus was found guilty, and was punished by having his clothes stripped off, three of his fingers chopped off, and the rest of the body thrown into the Tiber River.

Stephen's reign did not last much longer - he was strangled to death.

Click here to read The Cadaver Synod: Strangest Trial in History

Pope John XII (955-964)
For much of the tenth century, the city of Rome was dominated by the Theophylact family, and they often made the decision who would sit on St. Peter's Throne. Perhaps they didn't have too many choices, but it is hard to imagine they could not have picked someone better than John XII, who is about 18 years old when he became Pope. His youth had one benefit, as began his pontificate by personally leading armies against the local enemies.

However, it soon became apparent that John was more interested in the women of Rome than in handling church affairs. His antics eventually led to Emperor Otto I calling a synod to depose the young Pope. According to one chronicler, the charges against John included:

He had fornicated with the widow of Rainier, with Stephana his father's concubine, with the widow Anna, and with his own niece, and he made the sacred palace into a whorehouse. They said that he had gone hunting publicly; that he had blinded his confessor Benedict, and thereafter Benedict had died; that he had killed John, cardinal subdeacon, after castrating him; and that he had set fires, girded on a sword, and put on a helmet and cuirass. All, clerics as well as laymen, declared that he had toasted to the devil with wine. They said when playing at dice, he invoked Jupiter, Venus and other demons. They even said he did not celebrate Matins at the canonical hours nor did he make the sign of the cross.

Pope John retaliated by excommunicating the synod, and when he caught three of the men who took part, he had one flogged, cut off the right hand of the second, and removed the nose and ears of the third. Alas, his reign ended soon after, at the age of 27, when was "stricken by paralysis in the act of adultery" and died.

Amazon.com Widgets

Pope Benedict IX
(1032 - off and on to 1048)

Another descendant of the Theophylact family, Benedict was at least 20 when he became Pope. Sexual scandals soon started, leading many church officials to complain about him. The Abbot of Monte Cassino, who later became a Pope too, wrote about "his rapes, murders and other unspeakable acts. His life as a pope was so vile, so foul, so execrable, that I shudder to think of it."

What also sets Benedict apart from most other popes was that he resigned as well. Unlike Pope Benedict XVI, who resigned because of his old age, this Benedict resigned in exchange for a large sum of money - bribed by his godfather John Gratian, who then became the new Pope, Gregory VI. However, Benedict soon had seller's remorse, and over the next Rome and the St.Peter's was fought over between the various sides. Eventually the German Emperor came down and removed all the contenders, naming a new Pope. Benedict lived on until 1056, but never regained the Papacy.

Pope Boniface VIII (1294-1303)

Before he became Pope, Boniface was instrumental in persuading his predecessor, Pope Celestine V, to retire. Once he got to the Papal Throne, Boniface decided that having Celestine around was too much of a threat, so he captured the elderly man and imprisoned him until his death ten months later.

Most of his reign was spent in conflicts with the other states in Italy, but Boniface got in trouble when he decided to pick a fight with Philip IV, King of France. Eventually, he excommunicated the French king and proclaimed that all monarchs were subordinate to the Papacy. Philip responded by sending an army into Italy, where they captured Boniface at his summer retreat in Anagni. The French troops beat up and nearly killed Boniface - three days later he was dead, perhaps killing himself.

The Italian poet Dante, in his work The Divine Comedy, has Boniface relegated to the eight circle of hell for simony.
Pope Alexander VI (1492-1503)

While he may not have been guilty of all the deeds depicted in the popular show The Borgias, Pope Alexander VI was one of the most notorious schemers to hold the papacy. He made many efforts to enrich his family and get his children into positions of power, and he also had enough time to have a mistress.

His death in 1503 is something of a mystery - Alexander may have been poisoned, and his son Cesare Borgias was suspected of committing the crime. Rumours soon spread, aided by the rapid decomposition of Alexander's remains. One person who saw the body commented, "It was a revolting scene to look at that deformed, blackened corpse, prodigiously swelled, and exhaling an infectious smell; his lips and nose were covered with brown drivel, his mouth was opened very widely, and his tongue, inflated by poison, fell out upon his chin; therefore no fanatic or devotee dared to kiss his feet or hands, as custom would have required."

Click here to read more about the Medieval Papacy from Medievalists.net

In 1919, archaeologists discovered a hoard of Roman silver at Traprain Law in East Lothian, Scotland composed of piles of "hacked up" Roman silver. They believed the late Roman period treasure was brought to Scotland as loot, but a new study by Dr Fraser Hunter shows that economics may have been the cause of the destruction of the dinnerware. (photo)

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photo by Countess Marguerite

As many of you are aware, our chivalrous King and valiant Queen have journeyed to the far lands of Gleann Abhann to join in joyous combat and revelry at Gulf Wars.
This annual event is one of the largest in the SCA and pits the strength and grace of the four kingdoms of Ansteorra, Trimaris, Meridies and Geann Abhann in a week long contest to bring out the best each has to offer. Billed as “A War Without Enemies” this friendly competition features events in every aspect of the SCA. We are pleased and proud to bring you news from the several Easterners in attendance.

photo by Countess Margureite

After a rainy start to the war yesterday, the southern sun shone brightly on this morning’s Opening Ceremonies.  TRM Edward and Thyra majestically represented the East in the traditional mounted procession of all of the visiting Royalty. In the ceremony that followed, the forces of the East declared their allegiances as follows:  The chivalric fighters, with the King, will fight for Trimaris.  The Rapier and Archery combatants, with our Queen, will make their mark for Ansteorra.

Photo by Countess Marguerite

The afternoon brought a demonstration of the prowess that the East has brought to this historic battle. The Diamond Tourney, which is sponsored by the Diamonds and Roses of Gleann Abhann features Rapier and Armored combatants. We are pleased to report that Don Donovan and Lord Mathais who were fighting for our dear Queen Thyra achieved the semi-finals in this tournament bringing honor to themselves, their Queen and Our Kingdom.

We will continue to bring you news and stories from the War as they come in.

We are exceedingly grateful to those individuals who have taken time out of their fun to make sure that we, back home, can join in.

Filed under: Events Tagged: Edward and Thyra, fencing, Gleann Abhann, Gulf Wars, heavy list, photos, Travel

Jan Janssen van den Zype geheeten van den Goere reports that a discussion regarding relocation of the 2014 Rowany Festival to a new site is available online, both in written and audio format.

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